Hebrews 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: I AM IN THE STORM WITH YOU

On April 21, 2008, Katherine Wolf suffered a massive stroke. She lost her ability to walk, talk clearly, and care for herself.  She went from being a California model to a wheelchair-bound patient.  God stepped in.  In her wonderful book, Hope Heals, she writes, “I felt a deep awakening of the Word of God, which I had known since I was a little girl…It was my epiphany of hope!  I would never lose heart in this situation because my soul was not what was wasting away.”

Don’t try to weather this storm alone my friend.  He is still the great I AM.  The next time you pray, Is anyone coming to help me? listen for the response of Jesus.  I AM with you in the storm.  And remember my friend, you are never alone.

Hebrews 13

Jesus Doesn’t Change

Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.

5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,

God is there, ready to help;
I’m fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?

7-8 Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.

9 Don’t be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life. Products named after Christ don’t seem to do much for those who buy them.

10-12 The altar from which God gives us the gift of himself is not for exploitation by insiders who grab and loot. In the old system, the animals are killed and the bodies disposed of outside the camp. The blood is then brought inside to the altar as a sacrifice for sin. It’s the same with Jesus. He was crucified outside the city gates—that is where he poured out the sacrificial blood that was brought to God’s altar to cleanse his people.

13-15 So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This “insider world” is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name.

16 Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.

17 Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?

18-21 Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we’re doing or why, but it’s hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon.

May God, who puts all things together,
    makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
    the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
    up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together, provide you
    with everything you need to please him,
Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
    by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
    Oh, yes, yes, yes.

22-23 Friends, please take what I’ve written most seriously. I’ve kept this as brief as possible; I haven’t piled on a lot of extras. You’ll be glad to know that Timothy has been let out of prison. If he leaves soon, I’ll come with him and get to see you myself.

24 Say hello to your pastoral leaders and all the congregations. Everyone here in Italy wants to be remembered to you.

25 Grace be with you, every one.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Matthew 28:16–20

The Great Commission

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Insight
Jesus’ command to His disciples to go and make more disciples (Matthew 28:19) is commonly known as the Great Commission. But tucked in the middle of this scene is a phrase that generally gets little attention. When the disciples met Jesus on the mountain, they responded in worship. Then the text says, “but some doubted” (v. 17). Some commentators suggest there were others in attendance further away, and they were the “some” who doubted. But what did they doubt?

The word translated “doubted” is the Greek word edistasan. Matthew is the only New Testament writer to use this word (it’s also found in 14:31, where it’s translated “doubt”). This word can mean to waver, doubt, or hesitate. It may be that “hesitate” is a better translation. Perhaps the response of those further away from where Jesus was teaching (those on the outskirts who’d perhaps not yet seen the risen Christ) was hesitant and not an immediate response of worship.

Laundry Day
Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples. Matthew 28:19 gnt

Driving through a low-income area near his church, Colorado pastor Chad Graham started praying for his “neighbors.” When he noticed a small laundromat, he stopped to take a look inside and found it filled with customers. One asked Graham for a spare coin to operate the clothes dryer. That small request inspired a weekly “Laundry Day” sponsored by Graham’s church. Members donate coins and soap to the laundromat, pray with customers, and support the owner of the laundry facility.

Their neighborhood outreach, which dares to include a laundromat, reflects Jesus’ Great Commission to His disciples. As He said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18–19 gnt).

His Holy Spirit’s powerful presence enables “everywhere” outreach, including even a laundromat. Indeed, we don’t go alone. As Jesus promised, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age” (v. 20 gnt).

Pastor Chad experienced that truth after praying at the laundromat for a customer named Jeff who is battling cancer. As Chad reported, “When we opened our eyes, every customer in the room was praying with us, hands stretched out toward Jeff. It was one of the most sacred moments I have experienced as a pastor.”

The lesson? Let’s go everywhere to proclaim Christ. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray
Where can you go in your neighborhood today to proclaim Christ? How could His powerful presence enable you?

Jesus, enable me to proclaim Your good news today—everywhere.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 22, 2020
The Witness of the Spirit
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit… —Romans 8:16

We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him— we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.

Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself— He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden….” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9-13).

The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 65-66; 1 Timothy 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 22, 2020
The Home Keys That Make Life Make Sense - #8814

Most of us had some classes in high school where we sat there and grumbled, "When am I ever going to use this stuff?" Right? In some cases, we really have ended up using what Miss Pringle taught us. In other cases, we were right about never using it. There's one class I've benefited from almost every day of my life, including even today. Yeah, I had a typing class. Oh yeah, it was "old school." I started out with what they called a Selectric typewriter. Younger listeners are asking, "Selectric? What's that?" It's a typewriter. Never mind. I'll take you for a tour of the museum. But, you know, today it's a computer keyboard. And when I have a lot of writing to do, which I usually do, it's a good thing I learned to type those many years ago. And, you know what? My wife told me that I was one of the fastest typists that she knew. With the amount of work I have to get done in a day, do I have a choice?

Of course, it isn't just speed that counts. No, there's that accuracy thing. Going fast doesn't always mean you're getting it right. Every once in a while I'll look up at the screen only to see a string of words that don't exist, "gozornanplatz fufti." I look down. I'm like, "What?" My fingers aren't where they're supposed to be on that keyboard. I learned it my first day in typing class; they're called the home keys. You make sure your typing fingers are on the home keys, then you reach out to all the other keys from there, unless you want to produce something that makes absolutely no sense!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Home Keys That Make Life Make Sense."

The home keys. They're the only starting point on the keyboard from which you can compose things that make sense. Start any other place and you're going to have a mess.

Life has some home keys; a starting point from which we should run our life. Unfortunately, too many of us stand back and look at where our life is going, and what's showing up on the screen. It isn't making much sense. Things aren't working the way they're supposed to. Too many things we had hoped would fulfill us have left us empty. Too many relationships we thought would be what we needed have left us disappointed. And so many pursuits we thought would give our life some meaning have turned out to be so hollow.

Life doesn't work until you land on the home keys. And thankfully, the God who put us here has made clear just where home base is. It's spelled out in Matthew 6:33, our word for today from the Word of God, where He says: "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need" (NLT).

There's home base. Putting what God wants first, which we haven't. We've put what we want first. Maybe that's why the middle letter of sin is "I." And we're created, it says, to "live righteously." Too often, we don't. Instead we do the selfish thing, the angry thing, the dirty thing, the hurting thing. We've tried to run our life from the wrong starting point. It's called "my way."

But God didn't leave us there, even though He had every right to. No, instead, He sent the most precious thing He has, His Son, to help us find home. Here's how God poured out His love for you. The Bible says: "Christ suffered for our sins...to bring you safely home to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Home is where God is, and only Jesus can bring you there, because it took more than a religion to span that Grand Canyon between us and God. It took the cross; it took the life of the only Son God has.

Your restlessness, loneliness, and dissatisfaction with life, they've all been pointing you to find the only starting point that makes life make sense - in a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ.

Look, if that's what you want, you need to tell Him, "Jesus, I'm done running life my way. I know that doesn't work. I'm Yours, Jesus!" That's how you'll find home, and I'd love to help you get there. That's why our website is set up, to help you do that. It's ANewStory.com. Go to ANewStory.com.

You've tried it with your heart away from the only One who can make it all make sense. You could find home base today and from there start building a life that really works.